The Morning Dish – Friday, April 29th
DePaul Brings Wainwright Home: DePaul officials hired Richmond coach Jerry Wainwright, an Illinois native, to replace Dave Leitao, who left the Blue Demons to coach Virginia. Wainwright takes on the bold task of keeping DePaul competitive as the school moves into the revamped Big East with fellow Conference USA siblings Cincinnati, Marquette and Louisville. At Richmond, Wainwright compiled a 50-41 in three seasons. He also coached at UNC – Wilmington for eight seasons, building a 136-103 record there. Visit Hoopville’s feature on off-season movement among coaches to find more information about Coaching Changes .
Southern Makes Pre-emptive Strike: Southern officials decided to can the school’s coach, Michael Grant, before he could possibly accept another job. They fired Grant after learning that he had interviewed at Youngstown State for the school’s head coaching job. Grant had helped turn around a miserable Tiger program, compiling a 26-31 in two seasons after Southern had posted two consecutive 20-loss seasons. Grant and his lawyer will appeal the decision.
Baucom Brings Assistant to VMI: New VMI head coach Duggar Baucom has hired one of his former assistants at Tusculum College, Daniel Willis. The VMI job marks the third gig that Baucom and Willis have worked together. Last season, Tusculum went 18-11 and won the school’s first South Atlantic Conference Tournament title. Prior to working at Tusculum, Willis and Baucom worked together as assistants at Western Carolina, a member of the Southern Conference. The Keydets are also members of the Southern Conference, so both are familiar with the opponents.
Beilein Fills Out Staff: West Virginia coach John Beilein hired Mike Maker to join his coaching staff as an assistant coach. Maker comes from Samford, where he has been an assistant for the past three seasons. His responsibilities included scouting, on-court coaching and recruiting. Maker also was associate coach at Dartmouth for 11 years.
